Barrick Seeks Buyer for Several Australian Gold Mines

Barrick Gold Corp., the world’s largest gold producer, is seeking a buyer for three of its Australian gold mines, a person familiar with the matter said Friday.

It has appointed Bank of America Merrill Lynch and UBS to manage the sale of the Darlot, Granny Smith and Lawlers mines, which make up Barrick’s Yilgarn South division, the person said.

The hallmark details on a one kilogram gold bar.

Bloomberg

The mines, in central Western Australia state, produced 452,000 troy ounces of gold last year and have combined reserves of 2.59 million ounces, according to the company’s website.

Major miners like Barrick Rio Tinto PLC and BHP Billiton Ltd., are looking to sell smaller or less-profitable assets and boost returns to shareholders following sharp falls in the price of many commodities. Gold prices recorded their largest one-day drop in 30 years Monday, and the precious metal is now officially in a bear market.

Barrick Gold spokeswoman Celina Watt wouldn’t confirm the sale, but pointed to earlier comments by the company’s chief executive that all operations are under review.

“We need to make sure that all of our assets are performing effectively and they fit in our portfolio,” Ms. Watt added.

In January, The Wall Street Journal reported that Barrick was looking at selling some of its shorter life mines in Australia after starting a review of its portfolio last year. In 2012, Barrick’s Australian mines produced a total of 1.39 million ounces of gold, accounting for 19% of its global output of 7.42 million ounces.

Update:Goldcorp recently surpassed Barrick as the largest gold producer by market capitalization. An earlier version of this post, incorrectly said Barrick was the biggest gold producer by market value.